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Posts: 15
Location: Scranton Pa. | I'm new here. I posted in the main forum the "hello" thread. I'm mainly a salt water guy who lives in Pa. I have a great musky, walleye, and small mouth river, pretty much in back yard, it's called the Susquehanna river.
I've been turning metal lips for about 2 full years now. Seeing as how I can only get after stripers on the weekends I felt it silly that I'm not out after musky when I can be after them every day, especially with the plugs I make. I have a trout river I fly fish down the street from me, but I hit 3 fish last week the biggest was 20" the smallest was 18", and that's normal for me and the fly rod. So I figured the most challenging fish in fresh water is the musky, so I'm giving them a go.
Myself and my friend build these. My job is turning them on the lathe, through drilling them for through wiring, drilling the eyes and slotting the blank for the lip. My buddy is the detail man. He does the painting and most important the sealing. All are turned from red cedar spindles.
My buddy likes the name for our plug "art project" if you will, to be "Bite Me". I like the name "Morning Wood". If some one asks him what he caught on he'll say "Bite me". If someone asks me the same, I say my "morning wood". :D
So last weekend we had our plug draft. We had 20 plugs to completion after a long winter of building them, he had them laid out, and we went one for one picking till they were all gone. Talk about decisions. Being new to this we're still experimenting on profile and other technique.
These are not for sale. Being that they take so much time, and we have invested so much heart, if you will, into them, we would never get what they're worth to us. However, anyone fishing with me always has free reign of my gear, ALWAYS!!!
So here's some eye candy, and hopefully before too long I can be showing you some musky I hooked up on them.
Tightlines!!!
Attachments
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 Draft Day.jpg (94KB - 138 downloads)
1st 3.jpg (79KB - 154 downloads)
2nd 3.jpg (88KB - 142 downloads)
last 2.jpg (56KB - 145 downloads)
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Posts: 87
| what is morning wood named after lol....
great job they look really good | |
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Posts: 15
Location: Scranton Pa. | Thanks Muskie kid.
About the name...
I built these based upon the builds from the salt water plug game. Often these plugs are just refered to as wood. I believe "big fish, big bait". So my "wood", from the surf fishing jargon, being larger than average, can be called "Big Wood". Now, the female stripers get much larger than the females, and are there fore called cows, and in a stretch, girls.
Much like musky, or any predatory fish, cows like to eat on the light change. So the way I see it is , I'll use my "morning wood" to get the girls, because the best wood of the day, is always your "Morning Wood"... lures that is!!! ;D
LMAO
That's where the name comes from. | |
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | Good job...nice plugs.
RM | |
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Posts: 15
Location: Scranton Pa. | I just worked this out upon the request of my plug building partner to add a tail hook. I ran out on lunch to Gander Mtn. They have trolling rigs there, and I bastardized a dipsy shocker for it's surgical tubbing. I didn't even want to know what that cost.
To add a hook to the tail now, which I don't have here at work, all that one needs to do is notch the surgical tubing at the tail loop once the tubing is slid on, put the siwash on the loop, crimp it closed, and the hook will hang below the extended tubing.
Three images for you.
Oh yeah, I'm going to tie mono to a loop in the tail, run it through the tubing, and tie it off at the tail loop. That will allow me to keep the articulation in the tail.
The tail shouldn't swing that wide, but follow the @$$ of the plug. What would surpass my wildest dreams, is when the tail is flexed, upon the return of the surgical tubing to its resting point, I get a water pushing effect, or an actual propulsion. Who knows, I'll let you know after I swim it this weekend.
Have fun!!!
(Articulated forward.jpg)
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Tail at rest.jpg (83KB - 140 downloads)
Articulated back.jpg (82KB - 153 downloads)
Articulated forward.jpg (81KB - 160 downloads)
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Posts: 15
Location: Scranton Pa. | I made a modifcation to the tail assembly. I took it out last night the way it was, and gave it a swim in the trout river down the street. It turned a lipped swimmer into a slider. I will be designing plugs for that concept, however it was not a desired response. After the swim results I modified the tail assembly, as well added the tail hook.
Here's the refined variation.
If you wish for an explanation of the revised tail assembly, I will.
Tightlines!!!
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revised tail cu.jpg (62KB - 176 downloads)
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Posts: 351
| Nice work, guy. And I really like the idea of add a tail and modifying the action of the bait that way.
Looking forward to more of your posts and I hope you have a great musky season. | |
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | Wow, love the tail idea and the baits look very,very good in general. Keep us posted on how this new modification swims. | |
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